For the first time we’re excited to welcome a guest editor to the series: Lydia Rogue, who stepped in to edit the most recent issue of the Taking the Lane zine, True Trans Bike Rebel, pitched the theme for this volume and we couldn’t resist.

Without further ado, here are the submission guidelines:
The theme for this issue is: trans and nonbinary characters and writers. Working title: The Great Trans-Universal Bike Ride

Story length: 500 to 8,000 words (shorter stories means we can publish more!). Submissions of black and white illustrations or comics are also welcome.

Deadline: November 15, 2018

Format: Email a Word, Google, PDF, or txt/rtf document to lydia at takingthelane dot com. If submitting art, email first to ask about dimensions and format.

Pay: A percentage of net profits from the Kickstarter project used to fund the book will be split evenly between contributors, if the project is successfully funded. This payment will be at least $30 per story, plus 10 contributor copies per printing.

More about the themes: For this issue, we’re looking to feature trans and nonbinary writers writing trans and nonbinary characters. At least one trans or nonbinary character should be a protagonist and centrally featured, though they don’t have to be the POV character. Their gender can be integral to the story or can be mentioned in passing, but please make the theme clear.

Stories can be in any science fiction or fantasy – ish genre: high fantasy, hard SF, space opera, fairy tales, solarpunk, spec fic, slipstream, you name it—anything but fanfic. Note that we aren’t looking to ‘bury your gays’ (or trans/nb characters). And sorry… we also aren’t looking for erotica.

All stories must contain bicycles—the story doesn’t need to be about bicycling, but this element must be central enough that removing it would change the story significantly. Same goes with feminism.

We are especially looking for stories by writers from other minorities whose experiences aren’t often reflected in mainstream science fiction and fantasy.

About Elly

Elly Blue has been getting around by bicycle since 1998, and writing about bicycle transportation since 2006. She lives in Portland, Oregon with her partner, dog, cat, and a large number of unusual bikes. When she isn't writing, she spends her time seeking out and publishing other peoples' work about different aspects of bicycling.